Warsi said that we should question ourselves and not to judge others. She emphasised that we need to overcome the fear of love to win. "Pakistan is near to general elections, now people should ask tough questions and not to judge the candidates on their numbers of attending weddings and funerals or how many police stations they controlled," she said. She said that Israeli army action in Gaza conflict was disproportionate and being first Muslim British minister she had to quit, which she considered appropriate. She said five percent of Britain's population was Muslim minority and among them 1.8 million were of Pakistani and Kashmiri origins. She said they enjoyed all the rights to raise to any level in accordance with the law, Warsi remarked. Earlier, opening the session, Dr Nizamuddin, chairman of Punjab Higher Education Commission urged the 57 universities of the province to develop a culture of discussion and debate as initiated by the ITU Punjab, which convinced Punjab HEC to extend full support and PHEC was planning to hold similar activities at Multan, Bahawalpur and Rawalpindi. In the absence of Lahore literary festival, Afkar-e-Taza Think Fest's second edition has attracted large number of participants from all walks of life. He stressed the need to promote culture, research, and dialogue and to talk more about history, politics and arts. He said no research could be completed without academia linkages with the outer world. On the issue of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar and their genocide, the speaker Azeem Ibrahim from US Army College said it is the greatest humanity crisis with largest stateless people to the tune of 650,000 displaced in the worst situation facing ethnic cleansing. He said that Myanmar that has no external threat is using arms against its own people and their land has been redistributed among the locals. Omar Warriach from Amnesty International informed that Rohingyas should be treated in a dignified manner and right to safe existence instead of being called illegal invaders.
As many as 112 high profile speakers including 25 from abroad and representatives of 35 universities from four provinces and delegations from six universities participated in promoting the new thinking.
The topics discussed in other sessions included: Jerusalem; The Future of Middle East; Midnight's Furies; The Partition of British India; Entrepreneurship meets Media; Redefining Heroes of Pakistan; India Turns East; US-China Rivalry; The Rise of Right Wing; Where is the Media Heading; Shrines Violence and Society in Pakistan; Standing up to the Field Marshal; Inqlab Zindabad; Mr & Mrs Jinnah, The marriage that shook India; The enemy within: a tale of Muslim Britain; The Next Five months, Artificial Intelligence as the New Electricity etc.